<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
is	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
-	O
and	O
console-based	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
which	O
runs	O
on	O
almost	O
any	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
as	O
well	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
is	O
a	O
fork	B-Application
,	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
from	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
user	O
can	O
download	O
,	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
modify	O
XEmacs	B-Language
as	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
available	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
version	O
2	O
or	O
any	O
later	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Between	O
1987	O
and	O
1993	O
significant	O
delays	O
occurred	O
in	O
bringing	O
out	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
(	O
presumed	O
to	O
be	O
version	O
19	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
,	O
Richard	O
P	O
.	O
Gabriel	O
's	O
Lucid	O
Inc	O
.	O
faced	O
a	O
requirement	O
to	O
ship	O
Emacs	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
Energize	O
C++	B-Language
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
with	O
the	O
intention	O
that	O
their	O
new	O
version	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
would	O
form	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
version	O
19	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
they	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
time	O
to	O
wait	O
for	O
their	O
changes	O
to	O
be	O
accepted	O
by	O
the	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
(	O
FSF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lucid	O
continued	O
developing	O
and	O
maintaining	O
their	O
version	O
of	O
Emacs	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
FSF	O
released	O
version	O
19	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
a	O
year	O
later	O
,	O
while	O
merging	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
and	O
adapting	O
some	O
other	O
parts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
such	O
as	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
wanted	O
to	O
carry	O
on	O
shipping	O
Lucid	B-Language
Emacs	I-Language
,	O
but	O
using	O
the	O
trademark	O
had	O
become	O
legally	O
ambiguous	O
because	O
no	O
one	O
knew	O
who	O
would	O
eventually	O
control	O
the	O
trademark	O
"	O
Lucid	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accordingly	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
X	B-Operating_System
"	O
in	O
XEmacs	B-Language
represents	O
a	O
compromise	O
among	O
the	O
parties	O
involved	O
in	O
developing	O
XEmacs	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
X	B-Operating_System
"	O
in	O
XEmacs	B-Language
is	O
thus	O
not	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
initially	O
only	O
supporting	O
X11	B-Operating_System
,	O
XEmacs	B-Language
supported	O
text-based	O
terminals	O
and	O
windowing	O
systems	O
other	O
than	O
X11	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Installers	O
can	O
compile	O
both	O
XEmacs	B-Language
and	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
with	O
and	O
without	O
X	B-Operating_System
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
a	O
period	O
of	O
time	O
XEmacs	B-Language
even	O
had	O
some	O
terminal-specific	O
features	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
coloring	O
,	O
that	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
lacked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
community	O
generally	O
refers	O
to	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
,	O
XEmacs	B-Language
(	O
and	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
similar	O
editors	O
)	O
collectively	O
or	O
individually	O
as	O
emacsen	O
(	O
by	O
analogy	O
with	O
oxen	O
)	O
or	O
as	O
emacs	O
,	O
since	O
they	O
both	O
take	O
their	O
inspiration	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
TECO	B-Application
Emacs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
commands	O
to	O
manipulate	O
words	O
and	O
paragraphs	O
(	O
deleting	O
them	O
,	O
moving	O
them	O
,	O
moving	O
through	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
forth	O
)	O
,	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
for	O
making	O
source	O
code	O
easier	O
to	O
read	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
keyboard	O
macros	O
"	O
for	O
performing	O
arbitrary	O
batches	O
of	O
editing	O
commands	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
comprehensive	O
online	O
help	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
five	O
manuals	O
available	O
from	O
the	O
XEmacs	B-Language
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
supports	O
many	O
human	O
languages	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
editing-modes	O
for	O
many	O
programming	O
and	O
markup-languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
runs	O
on	O
many	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
including	O
Unix/Linux	O
,	O
BSDs	B-Operating_System
and	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Running	O
on	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
requires	O
X11	B-Operating_System
;	O
while	O
development	O
has	O
on	O
a	O
native	O
Carbon	B-Operating_System
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
versions	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
environment	O
exist	O
:	O
a	O
native	O
installer	O
and	O
a	O
Cygwin	B-Language
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
reconfigure	O
almost	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
functionality	O
in	O
the	O
editor	O
by	O
using	O
the	O
Emacs	B-Operating_System
Lisp	I-Operating_System
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
packages	O
exist	O
to	O
extend	O
and	O
supplement	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
either	O
download	O
them	O
piecemeal	O
through	O
XEmacs	B-Language
 '	O
package	B-Application
manager	I-Application
or	O
apply	O
them	O
in	O
bulk	O
using	O
the	O
xemacs-sumo	O
package	O
or	O
"	O
sumo	B-Language
tarballs	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
package	B-Application
manager	I-Application
in	O
XEmacs	B-Language
predates	O
the	O
ELPA	O
package	O
system	O
used	O
by	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
by	O
almost	O
a	O
decade	O
and	O
is	O
incompatible	O
with	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
XEmacs	B-Language
21.1	O
functionality	O
has	O
been	O
moved	O
out	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
core	O
and	O
made	O
available	O
separately	O
as	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
had	O
a	O
package	B-Application
manager	I-Application
for	O
over	O
a	O
decade	O
before	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
developed	O
one	O
,	O
but	O
XEmacs	B-Language
must	O
be	O
restarted	O
before	O
new	O
packages	O
are	O
loaded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
beginnings	O
,	O
the	O
developers	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
aimed	O
to	O
have	O
a	O
frequent	O
release-cycle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
aimed	O
for	O
more	O
openness	O
to	O
experimentation	O
,	O
and	O
XEmacs	B-Language
often	O
offers	O
new	O
features	O
before	O
other	O
emacsen	O
—	O
pioneering	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
inline	O
images	O
,	O
variable	O
fonts	O
and	O
terminal	O
coloring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
a	O
packaging	O
system	O
for	O
independently	O
maintained	O
Lisp	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
a	O
native	O
Carbon	B-Operating_System
port	O
for	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
always	O
had	O
a	O
very	O
open	O
development-environment	O
,	O
including	O
anonymous	O
CVS	B-Application
,	O
later	O
Mercurial	B-Protocol
access	O
and	O
publicly	O
accessible	O
development	O
mailing-lists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
comes	O
with	O
a	O
500+	O
page	O
internals	O
manual	O
(	O
Wing	O
,	O
et	O
al.	O
,	O
2004	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Support	O
for	O
Unicode	O
has	O
become	O
a	O
problem	O
for	O
XEmacs	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2005	O
,	O
the	O
released	O
version	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
unmaintained	O
package	O
called	O
Mule-UCS	O
to	O
support	O
Unicode	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
development	O
branch	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
had	O
robust	O
native	O
support	O
for	O
external	O
Unicode	O
encodings	O
since	O
May	O
2002	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
internal	O
Mule	B-Operating_System
character	O
sets	O
lack	O
completeness	O
,	O
and	O
development	O
seems	O
stalled	O
as	O
of	O
September	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XEmacs	B-Language
development	O
features	O
three	O
branches	O
:	O
stable	O
,	O
gamma	O
,	O
and	O
beta	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
21.4.0	O
,	O
version	O
numbers	O
follow	O
a	O
scheme	O
whereby	O
an	O
odd	O
second	O
number	O
signals	O
a	O
development-version	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
even	O
second	O
number	O
indicates	O
a	O
stable	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
of	O
XEmacs	B-Language
's	O
principal	O
developers	O
have	O
published	O
accounts	O
of	O
the	O
split	O
between	O
XEmacs	B-Language
and	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Stephen	O
Turnbull	O
's	O
summary	O
of	O
the	O
arguments	O
from	O
both	O
sides	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FSF	O
sees	O
copyright	O
assignment	O
to	O
the	O
FSF	O
as	O
necessary	O
to	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
defend	O
the	O
code	O
against	O
GPL	B-License
violations	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
while	O
the	O
XEmacs	B-Language
developers	O
have	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
copyright	O
assignment	O
has	O
allowed	O
major	O
companies	O
to	O
get	O
involved	O
,	O
as	O
sometimes	O
companies	O
can	O
license	O
their	O
code	O
but	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
cautious	O
attitude	O
concerning	O
fiduciary	O
duties	O
to	O
shareholders	O
,	O
companies	O
may	O
have	O
trouble	O
in	O
getting	O
permission	O
to	O
assign	O
away	O
code	O
completely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
holds	O
copyright	O
of	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
XEmacs	B-Language
code	O
because	O
of	O
prior	O
copyright	O
assignment	O
during	O
merge	O
attempts	O
and	O
cross-development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whether	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
new	O
XEmacs	B-Language
code	O
enters	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
often	O
depends	O
on	O
the	O
willingness	O
of	O
that	O
individual	O
contributor	O
to	O
assign	O
the	O
code	O
to	O
the	O
FSF	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
XEmacs	B-Language
project	O
has	O
a	O
policy	O
of	O
maintaining	O
compatibility	O
with	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
it	O
provides	O
a	O
compatibility-layer	B-General_Concept
implementing	O
overlays	O
via	O
the	O
native	O
extent	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
XEmacs	B-Language
developers	O
strive	O
to	O
keep	O
their	O
code	O
compatible	O
with	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
,	O
especially	O
on	O
the	O
Lisp	O
level.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
XEmacs	B-Language
development	O
has	O
slowed	O
,	O
XEmacs	B-Language
has	O
incorporated	O
much	O
code	O
from	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
,	O
while	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
has	O
implemented	O
many	O
formerly	O
XEmacs-only	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
has	O
led	O
some	O
users	O
to	O
proclaim	O
XEmacs	B-Language
 '	O
death	O
,	O
advocating	O
that	O
its	O
developers	O
contribute	O
to	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
instead	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
major	O
packages	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Gnus	B-Operating_System
and	O
Dired	B-Operating_System
,	O
were	O
formerly	O
developed	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
both	O
,	O
although	O
the	O
main	O
developer	O
of	O
Gnus	B-Operating_System
has	O
announced	O
his	O
intention	O
to	O
move	O
the	O
Gnus	B-Operating_System
tree	O
into	O
the	O
main	O
Emacs	O
trunk	O
and	O
remove	O
XEmacs	B-Language
compatibility	O
code	O
,	O
citing	O
other	O
packages	O
similarly	O
dropping	O
XEmacs	B-Language
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2015	O
project	O
maintainer	O
Stephen	O
J	O
.	O
Turnbull	O
posted	O
a	O
message	O
to	O
an	O
XEmacs	B-Language
development	O
list	O
stating	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
"	O
at	O
a	O
crossroads	O
"	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
future	O
compatibility	O
with	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
due	O
to	O
developer	O
attrition	O
and	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
 '	O
progress	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
options	O
were	O
laid	O
out	O
for	O
future	O
directions	O
including	O
ending	O
development	O
entirely	O
,	O
creating	O
a	O
new	O
fork	B-Application
from	O
the	O
current	O
version	O
of	O
GNU	B-Application
Emacs	I-Application
,	O
or	O
putting	O
the	O
project	O
in	O
maintenance	B-General_Concept
mode	I-General_Concept
in	O
case	O
someone	O
wants	O
to	O
restart	O
development	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
